Many areas for playing sports or engaging in recreational activities, such as ice and inline hockey rinks, roller skating rinks, indoor soccer fields, indoor football fields, short track (or other) speed skating rinks, and indoor handball fields, have an exterior perimeter defined by wall panels. These wall panels are often referred to as “dasher boards,” particularly in ice hockey and short track speed skating rinks. If a participant within such an area contacts the dasher boards at high speed, with high energy, and/or in an awkward position, serious injuries can result including concussions and neck and spinal cord injuries.
In the above-mentioned provisional application, and as provided and claimed in a co-pending U.S. utility application with overlapping inventors entitled ENHANCED SAFETY DASHER BOARD ASSEMBLY, a dasher board assembly is disclosed in which participant safety is enhanced by providing flexible cantilevered substantially vertical frame elements for supporting dasher boards and/or by providing a dampening material of particular characteristics (e.g. with at least one of a damping coefficient of about 1.7-3.2×104 Newton seconds per meter, a spring constant of about 1.5-3.0×106 Newtons per meter, and a loss coefficient, η>0.15) between the dasher board and the frame. According to the present invention various accessory structures are provided which augment the functionality of the enhanced safety assembly mentioned above especially (although not exclusively) for ice rinks.
The invention, when combined with the enhanced safety structure set forth above, achieves the desired level of protection to prevent or minimize the severity of concussions when high speed and/or energy dasher board impacts occur. Concussions almost universally occur if the Head Injury Criteria (HIC-14) is 250 or more. HIC is determined by the following formula:
  HIC  =            {                                    (                                          t                2                            -                              t                1                                      )                    ⁡                      [                                          1                                                      t                    2                                    -                                      t                    1                                                              ⁢                                                ∫                                      t                    1                                                        t                    2                                                  ⁢                                                      a                    ⁢                                                                                  (                    t                    )                                    ⁢                                      ⅆ                    t                                                                        ]                          2.5            }        ⁢    max  
The enhanced safety dasher board assembly described above, in cooperation with the features of the invention, reduces HIC (compared to a rigid dasher board frame assembly) by at least 30%, and typically by more than about 60%, at virtually all practical impact speeds and energy levels at substantially any portion of a dasher board. For virtually every realistic scenario HIC is less than 250, often less than 50.
According to one aspect of the present invention a dasher board assembly for an ice rink or the like is provided comprising a frame and at least one substantially rigid dasher board operatively attached to the frame and having a top area and bottom area. An ice dam (also known as an “ice retainer”) is provided at or adjacent the bottom area. As opposed to conventional ice dams which typically are simply a block of HDPE or steel (as shown by structure “9” in FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,882, for example), the ice dam according to the invention provides enhanced ability to isolate dasher board assembly components from ice in the rink, and deal with condensation which may occur opposite the ice from the dasher board. The ice dam of the invention comprises a main body component and a lip extending upwardly a significant distance from the main body component. The lip underlies the dasher board and the main body component underlies the frame. The “significant distance” is preferably between about ½ and two ½ inches, e.g. about one inch.
Indicia (printed, painted, etched, etc.) may be provided on the ice dam on the surface facing the rink interior indicating a water/ice fill level. The ice dam may have a unitary construction (e. g. solid HDPE), or the lip and the main body component may comprise two separable elements (e.g. of steel or HDPE), held together with mechanical fasteners.
The assembly described above may also include a kickplate operatively connected to the dasher board at the bottom area thereof on the opposite side of the dasher board from the frame. A dampening material (as described in the provisional and co-pending utility applications) is operatively provided between the dasher board and the frame elements; and according to the invention a puck rebound facilitating structure operatively engages the dasher board at the general area of the kickplate. The puck rebound facilitating structure exhibits the dual functions of high energy absorption upon impact of the dasher board by a high mass object at a relatively low speed (e. g. a hockey player travelling at 10 mph) and minimal energy absorption upon impact of the kickplate by a hockey puck (e. g. a six ounce puck at high speed, sometimes in excess of 100 mph). For example the structure could comprise a buckling elastomeric tube, with a number of spaced such structures provided.
The ice dam lip defines an open space beneath the structure so that any ice buildup due to condensation on the frame side of the dasher board will not adversely impact the functionality of the puck rebound facilitating structure. The open space also prevents ice buildup that would reduce the functionality of dampening material provided between the dasher board and frame, and interspersed between puck rebound facilitating structures.
Also according to the invention the assembly described above may further comprise a rigid unitary L-shaped anchoring device for the frame having a substantially horizontal leg operatively connected to the ice dam body component and a substantially upright leg operatively connected to the frame. For an ice hockey rink preferably the upright and horizontal legs each have a width of about three-five (e. g. about four) inches, and a thickness of about 0.4-0.6 (e. g. about 0.5) inches. Desirably the upright leg is connected to at least two substantially vertical frame elements by mechanical fasteners.
According to another aspect of the invention a dasher board assembly for an ice hockey rink or the like is provided. The assembly comprises: a frame including a plurality of substantially vertical frame elements and a plurality of substantially horizontal frame elements; at least one substantially rigid dasher board operatively connected to the vertical and horizontal frame elements, the dasher board having a top area and bottom area; a dampening material between said frame and board; a kickplate operatively connected to said bottom area; and a buckling elastomeric tube. The dampening material preferably has at least one of a damping coefficient of about 1.7-3.2 (e.g. about 2.7)×104 N−s/m, a spring constant of about 1.5-3.0 (e. g. about 2.4)×106 N/m, and an η·value>0.15 (e.g. >0.25), and the buckling tube has generally comparable values when the board is impacted by a high mass object at relatively low speed.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention a dasher board assembly is provided comprising: a frame including a plurality of substantially vertical frame elements and a plurality of substantially horizontal frame elements; at least one substantially rigid dasher board operatively connected to the substantially vertical and horizontal frame elements; and a unitary rigid L-shaped anchoring device (e.g. of aluminum or steel) for the frame having a substantially horizontal leg operatively connected to a stationary surface and a substantially upright leg operatively connected to at least two of the frame substantially vertical elements. Desirably the upright leg is connected to two substantially vertical frame elements by mechanical fasteners.
The anchoring device may be used with dasher board assemblies for any type of enclosure, not just ice rinks. However, when used for an ice rink desirably the upright and horizontal legs each have a width of about three-five (e. g. about four) inches, and a thickness of about 0.4-0.6 (e.g. about 0.5) inches, and the assembly further comprises an ice dam surface between the anchoring device substantially horizontal leg and the stationary surface, the anchoring device operatively connected to the ice dam surface (e. g by mechanical fasteners).
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a dasher board system with enhanced functionality in a number of areas. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from the detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.